My wife and I have been re-watching Ken Burns' excellent series, Vietnam. Wow.

[NewHendoLib]

We started a few weeks ago. It seems an important time to see this for a second time, to absorb lessons from this part of history. My wife and I were so young - during the huge protests, Kent State, so many other significant happenings, we were just into our teens.

The rifts that opened back then, it seems sowed many of the seeds of where we now find ourselves. Those that supported the war no matter what, the big time flag flyers (though not war fighters), the Nixon supporters, the "Murica - love or leave it" - are now TFG supporters. It has been - what - 50 years? We've really not moved on much at all.

And the lying - from Truman through Nixon - all of the lies.

And back then - the communism domino effect. And now we have Putin trying to claw it back to a time decades ago. And Ukraine - it all makes our hearts sick.

And the media back then - so different than the media now.

So - what do we think each night we watch one of the shattering episodes? Mostly that time has passed, we have aged - but things really haven't moved on very much - not really. Our species has a short memory. We make the same mistakes.

But we have Joe Biden as our president. That is certainly a great thing. And a great relief.

And there will always be autocrats - war criminals - like Putin. And those who worship them, like TFG and his cult.

What a time this is. What a time.

[snowybirdie]

1. I was a young adult

then. So many friends and neighbors went. Lived through it all. I've tried to watch Burns' documentary, but its too damn sad. I don't want my grandchildren to go through that.